Telescope

Grins and Things of that Nature

Benny

I stared up at the large, brick wall of the school in front of me. I don't know what it was that made me stop, what made me pull back from Mason and Jordan as they wandered off to smoke or drink or maybe not. But it looked like a nice place for a mural. 

When I looked away, down the outdoor hallway to see Juno leaning against the wall with a smirk on her face, notebooks propped in her arms, I couldn't help but grin. "Fancy seeing you here," I said, craning my neck to look back at the wall. 

She walked up next to me without saying anything, looking up. Her arm brushed mine, and for a moment, as we stood there in the light drizzling rain looking at a huge, blank wall so much bigger than us, I really wanted to kiss her. 

Instead, I watched as she glanced down to flick through her notebooks. She flipped to the back page of a blue one, spiral bound with the word English scribbled across the front in black sharpie. "I drew a sketch. It's just a first draft, but, you know..." She trailed off, handing me the notebook. 

Across the lines she had drawn a whale, light clouds around it and mountains jutting out beneath. It would look beautiful on a wall this huge. "It would be great on this wall," I said, looking back at the bricks. "We could make the Whale huge!"

She smiled, running a hand through her hair and stepping back to look at it again. "We should go ask Mr. Bill for approval," She said, nodding. "Then we can start!" She seemed pretty excited, which made me happy as I had suggested the whole ordeal. 

I nodded, "Aight," I said. "Let's go, slowpoke." I stuck my hands in my pockets, nudging her despite her raised eyebrow as I spun on my heels and started taking long strides towards the Student Government basement. 

"I'll give your hoodie back soon," She said as we started walking. 

I shrugged, then did my signature smile: one corner turning up first. "Looks better on you." Even though I said it like a fuck-boy, half-joking, I pictured her shaking out her wet hair, eyes glistening in the yellow car lights as she smiled and talked. And how she looked with her leg tucked beneath her as she stared out the window at the thunderstorm. 

"Mmm," She said, which I couldn't decipher into meaning.

We headed into the basement where a bunch of kids with carefully styled hair and nearly uniformed outfits were sitting around tables decorating posters and pretending to be useful.

It was almost sad, really. I mean, imagine joining Student Government to make a real difference, but all you can do is earn extra points if you clean up after you glitterify some Elmer's glue letters. 

Mr. Bill glanced up and saw us, and I thought I saw a wave of age pass through his glassy, tired eyes. "Benny, Juno. How's the mural idea coming along?" 

I took the notebook from Juno, handing it to Mr. Bill. "That's just a sketch," Juno said. "And the wall outside the North Hall, the big brick one?"

"I know it."

"We think it'd be nice there," I said.

"Do you, now?" He sighed.

I looked at Juno who furrowed her eyebrows at me, with a shared smile. "Yeah?" She asked.

"Alright, go talk to Dr. Newman. She has to approve it, but I'm fine with it," He said. He wrote a note explaining and signed it, handing it to me. Juno took her notebook back and as we left, her phone rang. 

She dug through her bag, light eyes fiercely narrowing. As soon as she saw it, her eyes widened a bit, then she answered. 

"I'm so sorry," She said. "I- Aaron. Hang on, can you wait like ten minutes?" She paused, then sighed. "I know, I know. I'll take you." She hung up, then clasped her hands together, her face forming an apology before she spoke it. "So, I promised my brother I would give him a ride to his friends and so I kinda have to go and I'm so sorry." 

I started walking again, smiling at her. "Nah, it's fine. We should work together to plan what we need and stuff at some point, though."

"I mean, if you want to come, we can drop him off then come back to school, talk to Newman, and then just plan everything a bit?" 

I shrugged. I mean, what else was I gonna do? Go spend hours trying to find Mason and Jordan? Because that sounds fun.

"Yeah, that sounds good," I said. She sighed. 

"Then I apologize in advance," She said. 

"So you're dating?" Aaron, Juno's little brother had been completely uninterested in me at first, but at some point, he seemed to warm up to me. He was a freshman with dark hair and a light complexion, leaning over the middle of Juno's car. 

"No," Juno said. 

"Not yet," I said. She looked at me with a smile, and I grinned. "Wishful thinking." She laughed lightly, shaking her head. I tilted my head at her. "You aren't saying no." She looked at me and winked, which caught me by surprise.  

She smiled, dismissing it and saying to Aaron, "We're working on a project together."

"For what?"

"The school," She said. "Aaron, Benny here used to do basketball, right?" I nodded at her. Aaron leaned more forwards.

"Really? Varsity?"

"Yes sir."

"That's great! Do you have any tips? Or like, I don't know. It's like my dream to make the varsity." I smiled at him. His eagerness was endearing, and his sister was now clearly lost in the soft music playing on the stereo. Part of me wanted to stay quiet so I didn't interupt her. 

"Just practice a lot, are you any good?" I asked, and he shrugged shyly. 

"Would you maybe practice with me sometime?" Aaron asked. It was this that brought Juno back to the conversation. 

"I'm sure he's got other stuff to do," She said, looking at me. 

I smirked. "Like go see bands and dance in the dark?"

She titled her head at me, deep thought etched into her smile. Outloud, she said, "Exactly."

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Hi!! Sorry, these chapters are shorter and filled with dialoge and less romantic moments! I've been lowkey in writers block, but I'm writing all the time so hopefully it'll pass. I've got many ideas, my writing just might be a bit choppy. 

Okay, so I've always written things like this and wondered, what's your favorite character?